


Warmth of the Sun

by UnamedUntold



Series: Warmth of the Sun [2]
Category: Transformers Generation One
Genre: Complete, Hostile Planet, Injury, M/M, Self-Discovery, Stranded
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-28
Updated: 2020-07-07
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:28:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 20,318
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24957637
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UnamedUntold/pseuds/UnamedUntold
Summary: The Autobots have taken the Ark to a nearby solar system to collect materials not found on Earth. As part of their alliance with the humans they have allowed several to board on their ship in hopes of improving relations with them. This leads to Sunstreaker, the well known organic hater, to look for a spot secluded from them. In doing so he finds a stowaway in one of the escape pods. But before he could bring them to Prowl disaster strikes. Now injured and crash landed on an unfimilar planet, he and the human have to learn to get along long enough to get to the escape pods cockpit in order to signal for help. How ever their are several dangers along the way as they both struggle to survive without any supplies.
Relationships: Bluestreak/Sideswipe/Sunstreaker (Transformers), Inferno/Red Alert, Jazz/Prowl
Series: Warmth of the Sun [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1915054
Comments: 10
Kudos: 23





	1. Disaster Strikes

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, any ships are all background types. The focus of this story is going to be around Sunny (my boy doesn't get enough love) as he heals some hurts from his past through a teenage human on their quest for survival. If you're not into that sort of thing than their are plenty of other lovely stories out their to enjoy.  
> Have a good day!

Sunstreaker sneered in disgust at all the new humans that have boarded The Ark. There must have been at least twenty of them now. All annoyingly constantly under ped. They talked nearly non stop, frequently got into places they shouldn’t have or be in, and have been a general nuisance to the bright yellow bot. The only mecca more annoyed by their presents than Sunstreaker was Red Alert, the security director, who had to spend weeks beforehand human proofing the ship only for them to still always be in the way.

As part of the Autobots alliance with the humans Optimus Prime has allowed several humans to travel with them to some of the nearby solar systems. The reason for these trips was to gather materials not found on Earth. It was because of this reasoning that the humans wanted to travel with the Cybertronians. They wanted to gather new materials for themselves as well.

So the humans were allowed to travel with the Autobots on certain trips deemed relatively safe. Despite their constant noise and them being a general nuisance, not every mecca was as vexed with their precedence. Several bots, such as Bumblebee, Bluestreak, Inferno, and several more actually enjoyed having them on board. For reasons far beyond Sunstreakers comprehension.

It was well known throughout the Ark that Sunstreak was an organic hater, like Mirage. Only difference between the two is that Mirage will humor humans with a conversation, though it is usually filled with snide remarks, and Sunstreaker flat out avoids any interaction whatsoever. The few humans that do try to make conversation with him quickly learn it is better to avoid him. Such situations have landed the yellow mecca in Prowls office more than once.

So that is what brought Sunstreaker out to the edges of The Ark, near the the escape pods. Just trying to get away from the constant presents of the humans aboard the large ship. With a snort he turned further down the long hull, trying to find a quiet place outside of his own berthroom. Though he loved both his twin and Bluestreak deeply, he needed some quiet time to himself. 

He was walking when he saw a small shadow scramble out of site into one of the escape pods. A shadow much too small to belong to one of the various minibots. Not that they even had a reason to be down here to begin with.

He rolled his violet optics, not at all surprised that one of the many pesky humans managed to find their way down here. He quickly chased the shadow down and cornered them in the escape pod. Though he couldn’t see where they were exactly he knew they were still in here. He stood in the center of the small escape pod with his servos on his hips and glared. He scanned the room and was able to pick up the presents of a small organic creature.

“Alright, come on out human. I know you’re in here.” He growled into the small pod. “You’re not supposed to be in here.”

He stood there quiet for a moment before he heard a small scuffling sound down one side of the console. In one quick fluid motion he reached around behind the console and grabbed the first squishy thing he could feel. He pulled them out, ready to reprimand them for being in here when he stopped.

This human was different. It was much smaller than the rest, covered in all black clothing, and most shockingly had a mask on their face with robotic dog ears sticking through slits in the top of their hoodie. The mask was unique in that its face switched between different emoticons and colors displaying their emotions for all to see. They were covered head to toe, not a single inch of their body was visible.

“You’re not supposed to be this ship, are you.” Sunstreaker concluded as he stared down at the struggling human.

“Really? What was your first hint Goldielocks?” The human, now identified as a female, said with a slightly distorted voice. She continued to struggle and squirm, trying to get out of his hold. Try as she might, she was too small to get out of the Autobots grasp.

Sunstreaker gritted his teeth in irritation at the nickname, but kept his cool. “Prowl is going to want to see you, Stow Away.”

“You don’t have to do that, you know.” She spoke, nervousness in her voice. She stopped struggling as much as she quickly found that was going to get her nowhere.

“What are you even doing here? This ship is no place for a human, especially a stow away.” Sunstreaker growled as he turned around to face the door.

“Wouldn’t you like to know.” She growled out with just as much ferocity.

It was at that moment that the alarms started to go off, signaling that The Ark is under attack. A series of bangs threw the golden warrior off balance and before he could regain it the force of another bang caused him to stumble back. He hit a large red button on the console as he fell, human still in one servo.

*Escape Pod Number 1 Active* Tellatran 1’s voice called out from the small computer.

“Wait, what?” Was all Sunstreaker got out before the escape pod dropped.

Without being strapped into a seat Sunstreaker was sent into the air as the pod dropped down to the planet far below.

*Warning! Left Engine Failed To Start. Warning! Center Engine Failed To Start. Warning! Right Engine Running Only At 20%*

“What the hell does that mean?!” The human screamed, her mask showing flashing orange warning signs.

“It means we're about to crash into that planet, kid.” Sunstreaker told her from where he was pinned to the ceiling due to the free fall. Fear was creeping into his spark as he realized how dire their situation was. “It means pick a god, and pray.”

He watched as her mask shifted between a few different emoticons before switching off. She grabbed a hold of his digit and buried her face into the knuckle. He felt a twinge of pity for the small and obviously young human. Though she did steal away on to the ship she did not ask for this fate and was much too young to die.

*Warning! Left Engine Decombusting. Warning! Center Engine Only Running At 5%. Warning! Right Engine Only Running at 22%*

Sunstreaker heard the loud boom of the left engine blowing up and the screeching of the ship's hull as it started to tear apart. He watched as chunks ripped off all around him revealing the open sky. The last thing he remembered was hitting the floor of the back of the hull and skidding across the planet surface. Just as he was about to shut down he realized with some alarm that both servos were empty.


	2. Strange New World

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They wake on the strange new planet and face their first set of challenges to over come.

The young human girl was the first to wake roughly and eighth of a mile from the wreckage. She stood up on shaky legs and looked around. For a moment she thought she was back on Earth, stranded in one of its many desserts. Though something was off.

It was then that she realized that the sandy dirt was a bright yellow instead of a sandy brown color. Rocks were near pitch black and twisted in odd shapes. The only thing that was even remotely Earth-like was that the plants there were green, though they too were shaped oddly. 

Instead of being circular tubes covered in spikes, they were fan-like. They faced upward, almost like a lily pad, though much larger. The thin dark green trunks were twisted in odd ways, as though the plant was unsure of which way to grow and changed direction often. The grass like patches looked sharp and spindly, like a hedgehog.

It was after she took in the scenery that she realized she could breath on this strange planet. Meaning that what few plants were here produced oxygen. Though curious of the odds of landing on such an Earth-like planet, she had to focus. First thing being she had to find the large yellow Autobot. Sticking with him was her best chance at getting off this planet alive.

With a sigh she took off towards the crash sight, hoping he’d be there and thankful she wasn’t injured enough to stop her from walking. Though when she took her first step forward she found herself propelling forward faster and further than she intended. She did a somersault and bounced before landing five feet away from where she was just standing. Slightly more banged up and bruised she stood back up, trying to figure out what just happened.

With a theory in mind she jumped straight in the air and went higher than she should have. “Unbelievable. This planet has less gravity than Earth, yet still holds a breathable atmosphere.” She muttered to herself. “Focus. You gotta find him.” 

With a better understanding of the planet she took off once again in the direction of the crash. This time more careful, though she still ended up falling a few more times. It takes her less than ten minutes to get to the site though in that time she is already panting from the heat. One look at the thermometer instilled in her mask shows that it’s 113 degrees out. Her thick, multi layered, black clothing does nothing to help.

Once at the sight she immediately starts looking around. On Earth a giant bright yellow robot would be easy to spot. Here he nearly perfectly blends in with the bright yellow sandy soil. If it weren't for him moving slightly in his recharge she would have started to go head in hopes of finding him further down. Determined to get the large bot up she walks up to his face shouting and pushing on his face plate.

“Ay! You! Wake up!” She shouts as she does her best to wake him. Due to the lower gravity she is able to lightly shake his head, though he is still far too heavy to properly shake awak. “Come on you giant pain! You need to wake up! Wake up!”

Her constant shouting in his audio receptor along with her banging on his face jostles him from recharge. He blearily opened his optics, only to shut them tightly against the bright sun. He raised one arm to help block the sun so he could look around. The first thing he noticed was that he was on an unfamiliar planet. The next thing was a very loud human shouting at him to his left.

“Quiet down, I’m awake.” He grumbled tiredly at the pesky human.

“Good, ‘cause we need to get out of here.” She said standing back a few feet. Her mask switched to a blue question mark. “Can you sit up?”

“I think I can.” He grunted as he tried to sit up. It was then that a sharp pain went up his left leg. Looking down he saw that it was pinned under a chunk of what used to be the side of the hull.

“Oh shit. That sure ain't good.” She said with a low whistle. The blue question mark flashed again. “Any way you can get that off your leg?”

Instead of answering he reached down and tried to lift the large metal chunk. He tried several times, but each time ended with it falling back on his leg. With each fall it damaged his leg even further. Even with the lower gravity it still weighed too much for him to lift alone.

“I don’t think I can get that off.” Sunstreaker said with a hiss of pain, his cooling vents working hard to cool him off. He looked around finally coming to fully realize just how dire their situation was. They were stranded on an unfamiliar plant, completely alone. “I don’t think I’m getting out. There is no way we can lift this.”

“Never say that.” The young human female said with an annoyed huff. Her mask had a yellow unamused face. “If there's will, there’s a way.”

“Then what's your bright idea squishy.” Sunstreaker barked.

“I’m going to use a pulley system tin can.” She snapped back, yellow warning sign. She then pointed to the top of the torn off hull with its exposed skeleton. “There’s a ridge just behind that beam. If we can tie this wire to the metal chunk and get it over that beam, then I can tie it to some rocks on the other side. From there I can push them off the side of the ridge. That should pull enough weight for you to lift the chunk off.”

Sunstreaker looked at the tiny human, surprised and impressed by her intelligence. Though it seemed like a good idea he was still skeptical of it working. “How are you going to get the rocks off the side?”

“I’ll use a lever. Maybe dig a path for some.” 

“Is it going to work?”

“Do we have any other options?”

He sighed, not believing his life was in the hands of a human. “Fine, hand me some wire. We’re going to have to twist some of the strands together to make it long enough.”

They worked in silence for about half an hour as they wove the wire into strands long enough to be used as a rope. Though Sunstreaker worked quickly he noticed that the tiny human had to stop frequently. She would sit in the shad produced by him or a piece of metal. Though Sunstreakers knowledge on humans was limited, he still knew that they were affected by temperature and weather far quicker than a Cybertronian.

“Why don’t you take off some of your clothes? I can tell you’re burning up under all those layers.” He asked her annoyed as she had to stop for a fifth time.

“Let’s just say I can’t. Not until sundown.” She panted out as she looked away. With her facing the other direction he couldn’t see the emotion on the mask.

“Is there something I should know?” He asked, optics narrowed as he stared her down.

“Let’s just get this done with so we can come up with a plan to get off this stupid planet.” She snapped harshly at him, mask flashing an orange warning sign. She got up to fishing her section of the metal rope.

Sunstreaker, annoyed by her bad temper, turned back to his piece to angrily finish putting it together. Within another ten minutes they had three long metal ropes made by bits of wire twisted and tied together. By no means were they pretty or could even function long term, but at the moment all they needed was for them to hold for just a minute.

“I’ve got them all tied to the metal chunk. Now you do your thing, squishy.” Sunstreaker huffed.

“Yea, yea. Just be ready to lift when I tell you too.” She waved him off, mask switching eyes rolling in dark blue.

With that she hoped across the short distance to the torn apart hull. With it being as damaged as it was it left no shortage of hand and foot holds. However, with the whole thing being made of torn metal there were also plenty of razor sharp edges. Her leather gloves were thick, they had to be, but she couldn’t afford to get a single cut in them.

She loosely wrapped the wire rope around her shoulder so she could feed what she needed without having to struggle to get enough off. She plotted her course and started to climb. From ten yards away Sunstreaker watched as the tiny human climbed the dangerous hull. Though he didn’t miss a single move she made, he was still distinctly aware that if she fell there was nothing he could do.

And that kept him on edge.

Between the razor sharp edges and the sun baked metal it took another half an hour in the sweltering sun to get to the top of the broken hull. She was a few feet from the beam, but there were no more hand holds to get there. She would have to climb to the edge of the outer wall and jump to the beam. If she missed or fell then it would be a thirteen yard drop with rope made from wire wrapped around her chest and shoulder. One wrong move and one of the many wire ends could pierce her neck.

She stood atop the thin metal wall and stared at her target. It was a two yard jump and she was weighed down. The only advantages she had was the lower gravity of the planet and her brief experience at parkour. She steadied her breathing, bunched her leg muscles, and jumped. For a moment she was flying through the air. Then she slammed into the beam.

Only through a stroke of luck that she managed to a hand hold on the edge of the bottom of the beam. From where Sunstreaker sat pinned he watched as she dangled in the air, holding on by only four fingers. In his chassis his spark clenched in fear for the small human. If she slipped it would be all over for her.

She reached up with her other hand and found a hold. With both hands secured she swung one leg around the top of the beam where she hooked her heel in a crevice. Using a great amount of effort she pulled herself atop the beam. Once on the beam she stopped for a moment to catch her breath. She looked down on the yellow mecca below.

From up here she was able to get her first good look at the large bot. Right now with him all banged up he was quite a sight, but should tell when cleaned up he would be remarkably beautiful by human standards. His bright yellow screamed look at me and, in her opinion, was a lovely shade. His helm fins looked like a crown to her and have him and almost regal look. Physically she knew he was a beauty, though his personality left plenty to be desired.

Little did she know Sunstreaker was studying her as well. She was a tiny thing in his opinion. Much smaller than the other humans. He couldn’t see any part of her appearance thanks to how she dressed so he only had what few interactions they had to go off of. To him she seemed like any other bratty human juvenile. Though he did have to give points in the courage department for choosing the Autobot ship to run away on and for climbing the side of a steep sharp metal hull to launch herself at the beam. Still, courage aside, she had enough sass to put Mirage and Tracks to shame.

With her breath evened out as much as it was going to get in the intense heat she threw the rope over the side of the beam and used it to climb down. She was almost down when she felt a sharp pain on her right palm, startling her and causing her to fall the last three feet. She landed on her rear with her right hand clenched in a tight fist.

Without wasting a moment she turned her body so her hand was in the shade. She checked her glove and sure enough there was a cut along her palm. It was about three inches wide and thankfully shallow. Were she not wearing gloves it would have been much deeper.

Though she needed to get the rope tied to the boulders sitting on the edge of the ridge, she was faced with a serious problem. She needed to get the cut covered. She looked around, hoping to find something she could use. However there were only twisted pieces of metal around her. With a growl of frustration she reached under her hoodie and ripped off a sliver of her own shirt.

In her haste to get the makeshift bandage a sliver of her skin was exposed. With a barely concealed yelp of pain she pulled her hoodie back down to cover her skin. Working quick she pulled off her glove and wrapped the strip of fabric around the cut. She had her glove back on in less than seven seconds. Even in the shade she knows that is three seconds too long. Already she could feel the swelling.

With no time to waist she got to tying the metal ropes to the three boulders. Thanks to their odd formations she had plenty of ways to get the rope to stay in place. With the metal ropes secured around the rocks, she now had to get the rocks over the edge. One sat on the edge and would be easy. The largest was four feet back, while the third was nearly six feet back.

She needs to get all three to the edge before she could push them over, or else risk the wiring coming undone due to the strain. At this point she had been in the hot sun for nearly three full hours while awake with an unknown amount of time while asleep. She hasn’t had anything to drink since two hours before the mecca found her. After an hour in the awake she knew she was at the beginning stages of dehydration. And it’s starting to take its toll.

Dehydrated, exhausted from the climb, and over all weakened, she knew that moving the boulders on her own would be one of the hardest things she’s ever done. But with the alternative being the death of both her and the mecca she’s left with little choice. Tired, but determined she grabs a long metal pole and begins the grueling task of moving the two boulders to the edge.

It takes nearly forty five minutes to move both boulders a total of ten feet. With the boulders in place she gives the signal to be ready. Two bangs on the side of the hull. A second later she hears him bang back his own two. She takes a deep breath and starts pushing the boulders off one by one. She was quick in getting them over and signalling to the mecca to push.

She runs around the hull in time to see him pushing the metal chunk off his leg and moving it out. Just in the nick of too as each of the metal ropes come undone just as he gets his leg free. The metal chunk crashes down on the ground with enough force that if his leg was there it would have been crushed further.

With his leg free they both sat back and relaxed for a moment. It was the first time they could since either of them got up hours ago. They were still trapped in the desert on a strange planet, but with both of them free to move there was hope yet.

Though not wanting to move, but knowing they had too, the young girl looked up at the older mecca. Her mask went from blank to a light blue question mark.

“Now what?”


	3. The Trail We Blaze

“Well, we need to look at our situation and options.” Sunstreaker started. 

“Well, we're stuck on a strange planet in the middle of a desert. We have a torn apart escape pode, no supplies, and currently no way to call for help.” The small human listed off while counting off each finger. Her mask switched to a blue unamused. “So in short, we’re screwed.”

“Maybe not quite.” Sunstreaker brought one servo to his chin and rubbed. “I’m not sure how much you know about Cybertronians, but my twin and I are split spark twins. We can communicate with each other through our bond.”

“So why don’t you tell him where we’re at now?

“It’s quiet on his end. He must be in a medically induced coma. Probably a result from the attack.” Sunstreaker informed her with a sigh. 

“Great. Option one: we sit here until your twin wakes up and pray that happens before we die. Any other options?”

“Just one.” He said as he turned to look down the trail of scattered broken ship pieces. “We find the cockpit of the ship and get the emergency beacon working and maybe even the radio. If they’re still in the solar system then they’ll pick up the signal. Though it will be an unknown amount of time before they could get us.”

“So, our options are sit here, with no supplies, wait for your brother to wake up and pray we don’t die. Or walk out into an unknown desert on an unknown planet, with no supplies, and pray we don’t die.” Her maske switched to a yellow neutral face.

“Don’t forget my leg is also injured. I can’t transform like this, so our speed will be slower. I’m also low on energon.”

“Great. Dehydration, here I come.” She said standing up and looking down the trail. “Well, it’s better than sitting here.”

“Is it really?”

“No, but at least we’ll die quicker.” She said flashing a light blue smiley face. “Let’s go.”

“So, what’s your name, squishy?” Sunstreaker asked as they started down the path. Due to the lower gravity and his injured leg they were able to match their pace.

“Don’t really have one anymore. Everyone in my city calls me Junkyard.” She answered as she bound along next to him in his shadow.

“Junkyard? That’s not a very human name.”

“Yea, well. No one really sees me as human on Earth.” 

“What a bunch of afts.” Sunstreaker rolled his optics, his distaste for humans growing.

“Hahaha! You got that right!” Junkyard laughed. “So, what about you big guy? You got a name to go with all that paint?”

“Sunstreaker.”

“Well, that’s a mouth full, Sunshine.” She teased.

“Don’t call me that.” He grunted out not having the energy to be intimidating.

They walked in silence for hours longer. Though they kept a constant speed, they never seemed to get very far. In between both having to stop frequently to rest and the glaring heat they weren’t making much progress. Both knew they had to keep moving. Their lives depend on it.

The trail was hard to follow once they got about two hundred yards from their crash sight. Their only only indication that they were heading in the right direction was the occasional chunk of metal. Usually a beam or a piece of the hull. Though they had no clue how far the cockpit was, each chunk of metal gave them hope that it wasn’t much further.

They’ve been up for ten hours now, traveling for six and half. The sun has shifted in the horizon, but still looked hours away from setting. While this gave them more day light to travel, it meant that they’ll have to travel in the hot sun for longer. Though they weren’t exactly eagared for nights covering blanket with her long, deep shadows.

While they hadn’t seen any other form of life on this planet yet, both travelers knew that most predators prefer the cool and cover of night. The shadows will hide their presents should it find either of them ideal prey. If there's anything dangerous on this planet, night is when they’ll see it. Or to be more accurate, they won’t.

Other than the chance for predators, night brings another danger in the dessert. Desserts can get up to 120 degrees in the day. However, after dark with no plants or lakes to hold the heat to the ground the temperature can plummet to below freezing. At times even making it snow in the arid environment. With few burnable plants in sight, making and keeping a fire going all night will be difficult. The dessert is truly the master of both extremes.

“Good lord, does the day ever end!” Junkyard screamed out, startling her yellow companion.

“Why are you so eager for night? Who knows what comes out when the sun goes down.” He asked shortly. The heat of the sun and the pain of walking on an injured leg was making his temper shorter than ever.

“Some of us actually prefer night time, you know.” She sniped back. “Besides. I’m hot. I’m dehydrated. I’m tired, and I know you are too! We need to rest, out of the sun.”

“You know, we wouldn’t even be in this mess if it weren’t for you!” He growled at her.

“Excuse me!” She rounded on him with a hiss, her mask flashing and orange warning sign. “It was your clumsy ass that hit the button!”

“I wouldn’t have hit the button if I wasn’t in the escape pod in the first place. But I had to get you out! Stow away!” He shouted at her as he used his height to loom over her.

“You didn’t know I was a stow away until you grabbed me. You could have minded your own business, but no. You just had to mess with me!” Her mask shifted from orange to red.

“I wouldn’t have had to get a human out from where they weren’t supposed to be if she hadn’t run away from home in the first place!” His roar rolled across the flat terrain.

“I don’t have a home!” She yelled back, her mask flashing a red evil looking face. “I didn’t run away because I had nothing to run away from! I have nothing!” She turned away from him and started marching back down the trail.

Sunstreaker stared after her for a moment, shocked by what she yelled at him. He was sure all human younglings had homes, families, a place to live. But then why would she be on their ship if she did? He stared after her for a moment, temper cooled for now.

“Well, are you coming Sunshine!?” She snapped back at him.

It was two more hours before the sun looked like it was starting to set. With dusk just around the corner they would have to make camp for the night. They picked a spot next to a beam stuck in the ground. Junkyard spent half an hour gathering all the things she could burn for the night while Sunstreaker rested against the beam. He let out a sigh of relief to be off his leg after walking on it for so long.

He did a self scan. His hud flashed warning signs of injury and low fuel. He only had 23% left in his tank. Maybe enough to get through the next day, but no further. With his still leaking injury and his cooling fans working non stop he was losing too much energon. If he can’t find the emergency ration kit soon he wouldn’t make it.

It was when he was thinking about his own needs that he realized the human still had needs of her own. For Cybertronians all they need is energon. One cube a day of decent quality would keep an active bot running smooth. Humans were different. He knew they needed to eat other organic material and drink water to survive. He also knew they needed to do this frequently or else they would start shutting down. But how much do they need a day? Where would he get this for her? How much longer did she have if they couldn't find any?

“Hey, Junkyard.” He called out to the small human who was working on getting a fire going.

“What’s up?” She responded as she looked at him, her mask displaying a light blue question mark. While they hadn’t forgiven each other for the fight earlier, they’re tempers had cooled enough to allow them to talk civilly to each other.

“How long can a human survive in the desert?” He asked seriousness in his voice.

“That depends on several factors. If I were to guess for me? I think I will only last another two days without water.” She sighed and sat back to watch her little pyre burn. “Even then, I’ll probably start suffering from hallucinations, dehydration, exhaustion, starvation, fatigue.”

“Any way to make that longer?” He asked nervously. Sunstreaker hated humans, but he wasn’t cruel. He wasn’t going let a human youngling die out here if he could do something about it.

“Not really. While my clothes are overheating me they are trapping any moisture coming off me. That’ll help prevent water loss.” She said, taking a seat next to the yellow mecca. She sat right in his shadow.

“Why don’t you take your jacket off then?” He asked for the second time that day.

“I can’t.” She sighed as she rested her head on her knees.

“You said that earlier. Why not?”

“I suppose I may as well tell you, but you’ll have to wait for sundown.”

“Fine.”

They sat for another half an hour as they watched the sunset. On this planet the sky skipped over the warm colors of a golden sunset and went straight to the violets. In a way it was beautiful, but it also brought the realization of the lack of clouds. They hadn’t seen one all day.

When the last ray of light disappeared from the sky, Sunstreaker turned to the human expectantly. To his surprise she was stripping off her hoodie. Under her hoodie she had on a torn sleeveless light blue shirt. Her hair was snow white and when she pulled off her mask her eyes were a violet blue. The most noticeable feature, however, was the crisscross of long scars across her pale skin.

“You look different.” He concluded.

“Nice job, Sherlock. Maybe next you can help me figure out what color the sky.” She snorted.

“Funny.” He quipped back. He looked at her for a moment longer. “Is this why you can’t take off your jacket.”

“Part of it. It does contribute.” She nodded. “Albinos get burned easily in the sun. There's little to no melanin in our skin. But what is unique about me is that I have an extremely rare form of Solar Urticaria, thanks to the albinism. You see, with the deadly forms of Solar Urticaria, most people survive the short term effects of exposure, but die from the long term effects. Me, I risk dying from the short term effects, but will survive the long term effects.”

“Solar Urticaria? What does that mean?” He asked even though he had a sinking feeling he already knew.

“I’m allergic to the sun.” She said as she turned her back to show Sunstreaker a fresh, open wound on her hip. “The sun will kill me if I take my jacket off.”

“How long?”

“Fifteen seconds in direct sunlight. Forty in indirect.” She shrugged and raised her now ungloved right hand. It was swollen and red, though what concerned Sunstreaker the most was the cut on the palm of her hand.

“What happened there? Did you cut yourself on the wire?” He asked.

“Yep.”

“Frag it all.”

“Yep.”

With the sun gone the temperature had dropped in the desert. It was now 44 degrees Fahrenheit, only 12 degrees above freezing. With only a light jacket and a small fire to keep her warm, Junkyard was shivering in the cold. With his large size and Cybertronian body Sunstreaker would take longer to be affected by the cold. He knew, however, that she could freeze through the night.

With a groan and a farewell to his paint job he shifted so he was laying on his side next to her and the fire. Using his body to shield her from the winds and keep the warmth of the fire in one spot, she stands a chance to survive the night. She hesitated for a moment before moving to sit by his neck. The warmth of the fire coupled with his body heat slowed her shivering down, though she was still cold.

“We need to stay up through the night or else our core temperature will drop.” She told the large mecca as she put her mask back on.

“Well, what do you wanna do about it?” He asked her.

“Wanna talk?” Light blue question mark.

“Sure, I’ll start.” He agreed. “Why don’t you have a home?”

“Going right for the sore spot. I’ll remember that.” She snorted unamused. “I don’t have a family because they abandoned me when I was five. I remember it like it was today. My mom was sitting in the kitchen, she wouldn’t look at me. My dad said we were going for a drive. It was in the middle of the day and I was excited. I never got to go out in the middle of the day.

“We got me all dressed up, he buckled me in the back seat. Right in the middle to keep me out of the sun. We drove for hours and hours before we got to a large building. We walked in and he talked to some guy there. I remember being surprised by how many other children were there.

“Well, he and the guy talked for a while, then dad signed some papers and started to leave. Naturally I started to follow him, but he said I needed to stay here. He said he would be back for me later that night, and I needed to wait for him here. The desk lady was glaring at him while he said that. He walked out that door and that was the last time I ever saw him.

“It wasn’t until later that night, when one of the staff came to put me in a special room that I learned it was an orphanage and he had abandoned me there. I spent a week staring at that door, hoping and praying he would come back through and take me home.” She stopped for a moment to collect herself. Next to her Sunstreaker stared at her, spark breaking at her story. 

“I was bounced around from foster home to foster home for two years after that. I collected most of my scars that way. Wouldn’t you know it, but most houses aren't designed to keep out the sun. So, at the age of seven I ran away from the orphanage. I figured if no one wanted me then I was better off on my own.

“I lived in a junkyard for the next seven years. Sleeping under a pile of scrap metal, stealing to survive. I became known as Junkyard to the city. There were multiple times CPS and the cops were called to get me, but they failed to catch me every time. But I knew time was running out for me there.”

“Is that way you stowed away on The Ark?” He asked softly.

“Yep. With no birth certificate, social security card, or formal education I had no future. So I was hoping you guys could take me somewhere off world where I could start anew.” She picked up a rock and threw it into a fire. “Lot of good that did me.”

“Luck of the draw.” He muttered.

“What about you?”

“Hmm?”

“If I have to spill my guts, so do you. What’s your life story?”

“Well, I was created on Cybertron. My carrier was Solarflair, a gladiator, and my sire was Quick Draw, her manager. I had a fairly decent sparkling hood. My creators' jobs kept a roof over our head and energon on the table. We made enough that I was able to pick up the arts as a hobby which became my passion.

“Things were pretty good until one day Solarflair went into the pit, and didn’t come back out. Well, sparkmates rarely outlive each other. So at 14 thousand years old Sides and I were orphaned. Now, on Cybertron we were old enough to work and own property. We inherited what little credits our creators had and used it to buy a store.

“We had just enough to stock it, but that was it. Well, something you should know about my brother is that he is one pit of a sales mech. He could sell tires to a seeker. He worked the front, while I did deliveries. It was a good system. We earned enough to get by. But I wasn’t happy with it. My brother, being a sales mech, was his function.”

“But not yours?”

“Far from it, kid.” He snorted and laughed. “My function was art. I was creating pictures on canvases. Capturing moments of time for eternity in an array of colors and shapes. Every night when the shop closed I would hide away and work on this painting of a blue crystal rose I saw in one of the crystal gardens. Sides would check on me now and then while I worked. 

“Well, after about an orbital cycle I finished. I showed Sideswipe and he said it was the most beautiful painting I did yet and wanted to display it in the shop. How could I say no? We went like that for vorns. I would paint it and he would sell it. They always sold so quickly.

“All the talk about my art naturally gained the attention of art dealers. They offered much more for them than what we’ve been getting, but I would have to make more quicker. So I had to stop helping Sides with his business. Not that he minded. We were doing so good he was able to hire a helper.

“Life became good for us. I painted, Sides business grew and grew. We had a nice apartment, all the energon we could ever need. I had painting in high end galleries. We ran in the same circles as the nobles. We had connections with the higher up. I spent my days in solitude, just how I liked it. He got to talk to all the bots he wanted, just how he liked it. Life was good.”

“But then?”

“Why do you assume there's a ‘but then’?”

“You wouldn’t be here otherwise.”

“Clever girl.” He smiled, then it turned into a frown. “But then the war broke out. We lost everything. We ended up being thrown into the pits and had to fight for our lives every day. Both in and out of the pits. Somewhere along the way the artist and sales mech were beaten out of us and the ruthless warriors were beaten in.

“We joined up with the Autobots once we escaped. Been with them ever since. We developed a reputation as the Terror Twins, though Prowl would tell you were more like a pain in his aft than terrors.” He chuckled, drawing one from the small human. “It wasn’t all bad though. We met Bluestreak because of it.”

“Who’s that?” She asked as she stifled a yawn.

“Our soon to be mate.” He sighed content. “He’s the most wonderful mech out there. Sweet as an energon treat, kind, caring, always willing to help. He was the first mech to believe I was something more than a monster. I was surprised when he agreed to let Sides and I court him.”

“He sounds like a real gem. I hope I get to meet him.” She chuckled, her mask making a yellow laughing face.

“When we get off this planet I’ll introduce you to them.” He agreed. "I think they'll like you.


	4. A Glimmer Of Hope

The night was quick, only lasting a couple of hours. At first light they set off again. Exhausted from a lack of sleep, they begin their second day on the hostile planet. The first part was spent in silence as neither had the energy to talk. Between Sunstreakers bad leg and dehydration in the human, their pace was slow. Only covering a couple of miles in an hour.

As they walked beneath the blistering sun, Sunstreaker started to notice the human was stumbling more and slowing down. She wasn’t walking in as straight of a path any more. Concerned he brought them to a stop.

“What’s wrong, Sunshine? You need to rest some?” She asked, though her tone suggested she wasn’t entirely there. Her mask was a blank black.

“Are you alright? You’re stumbling more.” Sunstreaker asked as he got on her level. She swayed where she stood.

“I’m fine. I just need some water.” She waved her hand and nearly threw herself off balance. Yellow exclamation point.

“Here, let me carry you.” He said as he reached to pick her up. 

He had wrapped his servo around her when she shrieked.

“Hothothothothot!” She screamed while flailing, causing him to drop her. Her mask repeatedly flashed a red warning sign before switching to a confounded face.

Neither had noticed that in the sun the metal his body was made out of had gotten incredibly hot. Hot enough to burn skin, even through a jacket. When his servo wrapped around her, she may as well have just been put in an oven. Even though she was fine, he could not carry her without risking burning her through her clothes.

He looked down at the tiny human on the ground, arm wrapped around her chest, with guilt in his spark. Though it wasn’t his intention to hurt her, he still felt bad for doing so. His optics landed on his servo. The same one frequently stained with energon. The same one he uses to hurt others and destroy. 

For millions of years he’s killed hundreds of his own kind. Whether it was in the pits or on the battlefield. Even amongst his own faction, he’s hurt dozens of bots. Chase away anyone who tried to get close. His temper has even caused strain with his relationship with his own twin.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” He said hushly, face turned down. Who exactly he was apologizing to, he wasn't sure. The countless bots who’ve been hurt or slain by his servos or the small, tiny human sitting on the ground just feet in front of him.

“I know you are. There's no need to apologize.” She told him, voice clear from the shock of the sudden heat. She stood up and walked over to the kneeling metal titan. Even through her mask he knew she was looking right into his optics. “We can rest for a moment, but then we need to keep moving. We can’t stay here.”

“Okay. Lets, let's rest for a moment.” He nodded and she mimicked him. 

She sat down in his shade, taking the break for all it’s worth. Sunstreaker, on the other servo, was scanning the horizon. Even with her moment of clarity he knew she would soon fall back into an detached state without water. Humans were such delicate things to care for.

Out in the distance, maybe a mile and a half away off the path he spotted an outcropping of rocks. There appeared to be more vegetation around it as well. A sign that there might be water. With a small glimmer of hope for the human he gently prodded her, being quick about is so he doesn’t hurt her any further.

“Come on, Squishy. I think I see a spot where we can get you something to drink.” He tried to persuade her.

“No, I don’t think hippos are blue. I’m pretty sure they’re a pinkish grey brown.” She responded as she stood back up, her mask flashing a blue question mark.

“Primus damn it.” He muttered to himself.

They set off at a slightly faster pace as they diverged from the path. Junkyard fell in and out of a lucid state frequently. Concern for the small human is what drove Sunstreaker to get there as fast as they could, his bad leg be damned. Even still, it took them nearly forty minutes to get there.

The out cropping consisted of five giant rocks that easily dwarfed the young girl. They stood in a crescent shape, making a shallow cave under them. All around them the foliage laid more dense than what they had seen so far on their journey, but was still sparse. A few more different types of plants littered the area. All short and squiggly in structure. Some with needle like leaves and others more like palm trees.

Junkyard had regained lucidity by the time they had reached it. But to their dismay there was no water there. Just a shallow dip where water might once have been.

“Well, shit. That sucks.” Junkyard panted.

“Language.” Sunstreaker said absent mindedly as he looked around the boulders, hoping they just missed it.

“I’m about to die of dehydration. I think that gives me a free pass, Sunshine.” She laughed dryly as she sat down in the coves shade. 

“You’re not going to die, Squishy.” 

“Tell that to my-” She started, but cut herself off as she looked down.

“Squishy?”

“The dirt, it’s cool.” She said running her hand across the top of the soil. It was less sandy here, more like fine dirt.

“And? Don’t tell me you’re dropping out again.” He kneeled next to the human.

“No, I think there’s water here, just under ground.” Her voice picked up in volume as she switched to her knees and started digging. “I just have to get deep enough.”

She dug at the loose soil, trying to get deeper in. However, she was exhausted and injured. Using her right hand sent fire through her arm and in the back of her mind she feared it was infected. After fifteen minutes of digging she had a deep hole, but no water.

“Any luck?” Sunstreaker asked from where he sat in what shade he could. He had his help abc and optics closed, trying to get some rest where he could.

“No. I can’t dig deep enough. It’s damp, so I know it’s down there, but I can’t get to it. Not as I am. It’s too deep, too far down.” She panted as she sat next to her hole. It was an arms length deep, but to go further she would need time and tools. Two things she didn’t have.

Sunstreaker looked down at the tiny human struggling to stay alive. She’d been fighting for two days, if not longer, with no water or food. She was still fighting even when it was obvious she was dying. Even when she had nothing left in the tank. But even he knew she probably just spent the last of what she’s got trying to get to the water.

With a determined growl Sunstreaker turned around to the nearest boulder and started digging. When he had removed all the dirt around the boulder that he could he stood back up and braced himself against the rock. Using all his strength he pushed against it, trying to dislodge it. He strained against the heavy rock, ignoring the pain coming from his damaged leg, until he managed to get it out of the hole. 

He watched it roll away for a moment before looking back in the hole. There, at the very bottom, a shallow pool had formed. It wasn’t much, but he knew every drop would help his tiny companion.

“Junkyard. Junkyard, wake up.” He poked the human until she stirred awak.

“Hmm? What’s wrong Sunshine?” She asked as she stood on shaky legs.

“I got you some water. Look, over here.” He said guiding her to the hole in the ground. 

At the thought of water she stumbled to the hole. As carefully as she could she slid down the side to spot just next to the pool of freshwater. It was a little sandy, but she didn’t care. It would be enough to keep her going for a little while longer. A blessing or an act of cruelty, neither knew yet.

“Sunshine, I’m going to need you to block the sun for me.” She told him as she prepared to remove her mask.

He moved himself to the sun from shining down into the hole. It was just enough for her to be able to drink safely. Once the sun was no longer a threat she started to drink as much of the shallow puddle as she could. With having just been underground, away from the hot sun, it was cold.

She finally had the water she desperately needed. With every mouth full she could feel the cold water running through her body, cooling it off from the inside. It was sandy and tasted weird, but to her it was the best water there ever was. Even though it didn’t take long for the water to disappear, it was enough to rejuvenate her. Now alert to her surroundings and situation, she was ready to get back on the trail. 

Sunstreaker, however, was not.

“Damn, your leg.” She said as they studied the sparking leg. Due to the strain of being used while injured, it had gotten worse. It wasn’t leaking anymore, but it would be a literal pain to walk on.

“It’s okay. I’ve walked further on worse. I’ll be okay.” Sunstreaker tried to reassure her, though what he was saying was lies. Even though he had been injured worse and had to walk far distances on it, he always had his brother to take some of the weight.

“If you need to rest longer, we can.” 

“If we don’t get to the cockpit soon, we’re going to die. Every moment we waist here is another moment closer to death.” Standing up he ended the debate. As much as she was concerned for the yellow mech, she knew there was nothing she could do to force him to rest. With a shake of her head she followed the stubborn Autobot back to the path.

“Soooooo, what’s your job?” She asked him, hoping to kill time with some chatter.

“I’m a Front Line Warrior. I’m the first in battle and take the brunt of the force. I specifically go after Seekers with my brother. We’ve invented a fighting style we call Jet Judo.” He told her with a proud and slightly sadistic grin. “We’re the only grounders who can take out the Seekers.”

“Sounds hard, and dangerous.” She said, impressed by his accomplishments.

“It is. You have to aim just right to get them and if you miss then that ground is going to hurt. Not to mention we end up crashing with the Seeker plenty of times.” He said with a wince. “In fact, my brother and I almost always end up in the medbay after each battle. Usually not for long, but still. Any time with Hatchet is better spent elsewhere.”

“Damn, sounds like you have it rough.” She laughed while shaking her head. Her mask showed a yellow laughing face. “I guess the two of you are needed pretty badly.”

“I guess so.”

“You guess so?” Blue question mark. “Care to elaborate?”

“No.” 

“Okay.”

“Wait, okay? You’re not going to press me for more?” He asked, shocked by her willingness to let it drop.

“Dude, Sunshine, if you don’t want to talk, you don’t have to talk, and I’m not going to make you. If you wanna talk later, then I’m all ears. But if not then that’s okay.” She said with a shrug, a blue small smile on her mask. “Now it’s your turn to ask me a question.”

“What's with the mask?” He asked with a tilt of his head. “I know why you wear it, but why do you have the one you have? And where did you get it.”

“Well, I built it. I Programmed it too.”

“Really?” Surprised clear on his face.

“Yep. When you have to survive on your own, you pick up a few things to give you an edge. Me, I chose engineering and programming. I will admit it wasn’t for anything legal. A few things I regret.” She admitted, face turned away.

“I get it. When faced with death, anything else is a preferable option. Sides and I did some things we’re not proud of when we were in the pits.”

“Yea.” She nodded. “So, anyway. I built the mask myself for several reasons. I needed something that the sun couldn’t get through. What better way to do that, then to make it solid.”

“What do you mean?”

“My mask is like two computers in one. You can not see through it because both sides are their own monitors.” She explained. “I can see because there's a camera on my mask that shows a live feed inside. The inside is actually made out of pieces of broken t.v.s and monitors, while the outside is a bunch of small LEDs.”

“I can’t believe you made this. Thats, impressive.” Sunstreaker said, amazement in his voice.

“Yep. So the monitors serve multiple functions. Firstly, most albinos have poor eyesight. I’m near-sighted, so having the monitor right in front of me allows me to see long distances as if I were wearing glasses.”

“And the outside one?”

“Allows me to communicate more effectively with others. Humans may be verbal when they communicate, but a good portion of dialogue is body language.” She told him. “So I added the emojis so I couldn’t be so disconnected from others.”

“You want to connect with others?” Sunstreaker asked. He felt a sense of kinship with her longing. As antisocial as he was, he still desired emotional bonds with others. For the first time he considered himself lucky. He had both his twin and Bluestreak.

“I’ve been alone most of my life. Even when I was in the foster system I never felt like I belonged anywhere. I never felt close to anyone.” She shook her head with a sad laugh. “It’s childish, isn’t it? Too spend so long alone and still want to be wanted by someone.”

“No, it’s not.” Sunstreaker said with as much seriousness as he could. He knelt down so she could see his face better. “It’s not childish to want to belong somewhere with someone. It’s not childish to want to connect with someone, to be wanted by some one, no matter how long you spent alone. Everyone wants to feel like they’re loved and wanted by someone.”

“I wish I had someone. Anyone.” Quiet sobs shook her little body. Sunstreaker wasn’t sure what to do. He’s seen the other bots hug or pick up a distressed human, but the lesson from earlier was still fresh in his mind. Still, he wanted to do something to comfort the tiny human. Using one digit he gently patted her head and back, never letting contact stay for longer than a second.

To his surprise she would lean into the contact. It had been so long since anyone tried to give her any form of comfort that she wanted to maintain contact. She didn’t care about the burning heat through her jacket. After a few minutes she calmed down and he drew back his hand.

“Come on.” She waved at him. “We’re burning daylight.”

“Seams more like daylight’s burning us.” He said as an attempt at a joke.

“HA! That’s funny.” Her mask showed a yellow laughing face.

With only four hours of daylight left, they had to make haste to get as far as they could. By the time the sun started to set they had covered nine more miles. Both were exhausted when they picked a spot to settle down. They settled next to a large rock sticking out of the ground. There were no plants nearby, meaning a fire was out of the question tonight. They just had to hope it wouldn’t get below freezing.

“Goof lord, how far away did the cockpit land!” Junkyard groaned, tired and dehydrated from all the walking. With the sun down she had taken off her mask and jacket, exposing her skin to the elements. Though she’ll soon have to put both back on due to the chill of the night.

“With the speed in which we crashed, coupled with the lower gravity, it could still be miles ahead of us.” Sunstreaker told her tiredly. What he didn’t tell her was that he didn’t have miles left in him. One look at his hud showed he only had 3% fuel left, 12% coolant, and 7% oil. All day he’d been keeping an eye on his levels as he watched them slowly diminish. He knows that if he doesn't refuel soon he'll die, leaving the human to survive on her own. With out someone to help keep her on track or to use the emergency beacon, she'll die.

It also occurred to him that if he perishes, so will his brother who had yet to wake up. Then Bluestreak would be all alone. That though didn't sit well with the golden warrior as he tried to figure out a way to survive longer.

“I’m going to pee. Don’t follow.” The human said as she rounded the boulder. She walked around, hoping to find a decent spot to dig a hole when something caught her eye. It was a bright red box, half buried in the sand. “Hey Sunshine! I found something you should take a look at!” She shouted as she approached the box to get a better look. 

On one side it had hinges and on the other it had a latch. Strange markings in black ran across it. From around the boulder Sunstreaker came to inspect what is was she had found. Upon seeing the box he immediately recognized it as an emergency ration supply. He quickly opened the box and nearly cried in relief to see that the supplies had survived the fall. Without hesitation he set about filling his empty tank.

Junkyard sat back and watched as he dug through the box before pulling out a bright pink cube and drinking it. He drank about half before reaching in and pulling out a metal can. Guessing this was going to take a while she continued on her search for someplace to relieve herself.

When she came back he had settled down on the other side of the rock. She noticed that he looked better now. A bit more relaxed as he laid down. She walked up to him and settled down by his neck, the warmest spot she could fine. With the sun down and his body cooled off she could touch him with out being burned.

“I take it you needed what was in there?” She said questionly.

“That was an emergency ration kit. The energon, coolant, and oil I got out of it will keep me going for one, maybe two days. Hopefully we’ll be able to get to the cockpit by then.”

“Then here’s to hoping we get there soon and get off of this hell hole.” She said raising one hand to the sky.

“Here, here.” He humored her, a small smile on his face plate. “Stay near me, I’ll keep you warm through the night.”

“Good, ‘cause I don’t think I could stay up.” She said with a yawn as she curled up at the junction between his shoulder and neck.

As she started to doze off next to him, Sunstreaker felt a glimmer of warmth in his spark. Surprised, he realized that he was starting to care for the tiny human girl. Her sass and smart ass remarks were starting to grow on him. And her fighting spirit was something to be admired. What surprised him most was that he found he didn’t mind that he was starting to like a human.

He looked down at the tiny human with a smile. He still hated humans, and organics in general, but he found he didn’t mind this one too much.


	5. Unpleasant Surprises

It was the sound of a low rumble that woke her up. It rumbled through the ground, sending vibrations through her. Confused, she sat up to peer into the darkness. Very little light shone across the landscape from the planet's single blue moon. Hardly enough to see more than a few yards in front of her.

Carefully she stood up, trying to see if anything was different in the night. As she looked out into the darkness she failed to see a tongue, long and serpent like, slither closer to her. Fast as a whip it wrapped around her ankle and pulled. Fear erupted through her veins as she let out an ear piercing scream.

Sunstreaker, startled by the noise, jumped into a battle stance ingrained in him from years of war. It took him less than a nano click to assess the situation and dive for the human. He wrapped his servo around her, pulling her out of the grip of the unknown assailant. They watched as the creature reared up from the ground, scaly and serpent-like with two skinny arms, letting out a screech like roawr before diving back into the sandy ground.

“What in the hell is that?!” Junkyard screeched from where she was held in his gian servo.

“I don’t know, but I don’t think it’s giving up yet.” Sunstreaker warned her. He tried to keep his optics on the predator that was not too much smaller than him. Try as he might he couldn’t keep something that could disappear underground in his sights. It dove down deeper, far enough to not disturb the sand on top.

It was quiet for a moment as they watched and waited. It didn’t take long for them to feel a rumble again. Sunstreaker braced himself, but didn’t expect it to shoot out of the ground from right behind him. It used both it’s lanky arms to throw the yellow warrior off balance as it snatched Junkyard from his servo in its long mouth. It scrambled off the Autobot and jumped to the ground, intending to make an escape with its meal.

“Sunstreaker!” She shouted in fear as its bony mouth clamped firmly around her.

What it didn’t count on was Sunstreaker being faster than it. In a flash the yellow warrior was on his back. He pined its skinny arms under his knees while he pried its mouth open. Its jaws were powerful, but Sunsteaker was much stronger. When he had its mouth open wide enough Junkyard slipped out and fell safely into his servo. With her out of harm's way he got off the large snake like animal. He landed a final kick to its side for good measure as it scrambled away.

Now that the danger had passed he was able to focus on the small human. She sat in his hand, curled around herself, shaking and sobbing. It was clear she was in shock from the terrifying ordeal of nearly being eaten alive. Sunstreaker has to calm her down.

“Hey, sh sh sh. It’s okay. It’s all okay.” He said in as soothing of a voice as he could manage. He was never known amongst The Ark crewmats as being gentle or caring for good reason. Still, he did his best to gently rub one of her cheeks with his diggit in what he hoped was a comforting manor. “Everything’s okay now, Sweetspark. It’s gone now, okay? You’re safe now, I got you.”

His attempts at comfort worked and she started to calm down. It took a few moments for her to be fine. While she finished calming down Sunstreaker didn’t stop petting her head. She didn’t mind the odd form of comfort and even leaned into the touch. Before long she had calmed down enough to think rationally.

“We need to move before that thing comes back. It might be gone for now, but who knows how persistent that thing is.” He told the girl as he scooped up her few things. She grabbed her mask out of his hand and put it on along with her dog ear headphones.

“It’s probably best to make the most of the coolness of night anyway.” She agreed with him. He lifted his servo so she could ride on his shoulder. Without the burn of the sun to heat his metal he could carry her part of the distance.

Without the heat of the sun burning down on them they made good time. They had traveled nearly six miles in the two hours before dawn. That was the best they had done in the last two days, now three. But it wasn’t their speed that had Sunstreakers attention. While they hadn’t been exactly chatty during their trip, Junkyard hadn’t let more than an hour go by without asking some trivial question. However, she had been silent for the last two hours, and it had him worried. When dawn broke over the horizon he decided he had to get her to talk

“You alright over there? You’ve been pretty quiet for the last couple of hours.” He prodded her gently.

Junkyard, who had been sitting curled up at his neck for the last couple of hours, startled, making her mask flash a yellow exclamation point. She hadn’t expected him to initiate a conversation as it had been up to her to do so for the last couple of days. It had always seemed like he wasn’t interested in talking. She looked at him with a blue surprised face before she realized she was expected to respond. 

“Oh, yea. I’m, uh, I’m fine.” She stuttered out and winced. She knew he wouldn’t believe her when she said she was fine.

“Uh huh. Sure, and I’m painted grey.” He said with disbelief in his voice.

“With how many scratches you’ve acquired you may as well be.” She muttered to herself, though he heard it anyway. A quick look down his front proved the statement to be true. His normally flawless paint job was littered with more scratches, scrapes, and scruffs then even some of the most ferocious of battles had left on him.

“Well how are you holding up after nearly being eaten?” He growled lowly as he looked at his paint, though there was no real heat behind it.

“Just thinking.”

“About?” He prompted with a raised brow. He turned to face her to give her his attention.

“Just that if I had died there would be on one to miss me. You’d probably be the only one to ever know that I had died. Or was gone to begin with.” She said with a shrug, her mask a purple pensive face. “There is not a single person out there to mourn me if I died.”

Sunstreaker stared at her and once again felt a kinship with what she was saying. He knew that when he died the only bot that might be around to mourn him specifically would be Bluestreak as Sideswipe would die with him. Assuming they hadn’t bonded yet that is. And if they had then anyone who showed up would be for Bluestreak and Sideswipe. The more social two of their trinity.

He knew that a good portion of it was his fault. He was the one that pushed everyone away. He was the one that chased off others with his temper. More times than not he didn't mind it too much. Being alone all the time. He was antisocial, he just didn't like having a lot of friends like his brother a lover did. He did, however, want someone who he could connect with on a friend level. Someone who would just acknowledge his existence in a room full of bots. Someone who would notice when he wasn't there.

In short, he understood.

“Tell me about your life.” Junkyard said so unexpectedly that it took him off guard for a moment. Her mask switched to a blank black screen.

“Hmm?”

“Tell me about your life. What you do every day, who you know.” She repeated.

“Oh, well you already know what I do as a job. There's not really much more to say.” He said as he started to think.

“Tell me what you can.” She said with a shrug.

It didn’t take a genius to figure out she wanted him to talk to distract her from what was going on through her head. So he thought about something he could tell her. “Well, Sides and I like pulling pranks on the other bot on the ship.”

“Really? Tell me about it.” A blue question mark.

“Okay, well on time we put a bunch of rope traps down one of the halls. We dyed them orange so they'd blend in. Well, we ended up snagging three bots before Prowl caught us. He was mad about that one as they were on their way to relive the night shift. We were in the brig for two days for that one.

“Another time we had gotten a hold of an air horn, so tied it under Red Alerts chair as a prank. He sat and it went off. We never seen him crash so hard before. He ended up going to the medbay. Prowl was livid with us, we ended up spending a week in the brig. And when we got out Inferno had us in his crosshairs for a month.”

“Who’s Inferno?”

“Reds not boyfriend.” Sunstreaker said while rolling his optics. “They say they aren't together, but everyone knows they’re practically bonded. He always gets so mad when we prank Red Alert. Not that I blame him.

“I mean, one time we put pictures in front of all of Red's cameras. He freaked out so hard trying to figure out why no one was showing up on them. Another time we we set a paint trap in his office and when he stepped in it covered him in pink glittery paint.”

“Wow, sounds like the two of you run wild on that ship.” She said laughing at his antics. Her mask flashed a yellow laughing face.

“Yea, we keep Prowl and Red on their peds. It’s not all bad though. We’ve found holes in security, and abused the slag out of them. Some of our pranks have given Prowl ideas for battle strategies.” He said with a small fond smile on his face plate.

“Sounds like the two of you are needed on that ship, for more than just front liners.” She said, a yellow smirk formed on her mask. “I bet you two arn’t the only ones who get a kick out of your pranks.”

“Oh yea. Red set up a special channel so everyone could watch the poor victim get pranked.” He told her. “He also has one for his black mail too.”

“Your place sounds like a real riot!” She laughed loudly. After a moment though, she started to squirm. An orange persevering face showed on her mask. “Ugh, you metal skin is getting too hot again. I gotta get down now.” 

“Hope you enjoyed the ride while it lasted.” He said setting her down on the sandy soil. “Good news is, it should not be much further before we reach the cockpit. It couldn’t have gone much further.”

“You have no idea how much I hope you’re right.” She sighed heavily.

Sunstreaker was right. 

By the time late afternoon had come they had walked another fifteen miles. At the end of the fifteenth mile they could make out a large shape in the distance. It didn’t take long for Sunstreaker to identify it as the cockpit. Hope in their chests that help was only a short mile away, they picked up speed. Their joy was short lived though when they came across an obstacle.

A chasm in the ground stood between them and the front end of the ship. They looked down at the crack in the ground with shock, disbelief, anger, and frustration. It was half a mile deep and at least five stories deep, over five times the height of Sunstreaker. The chasm stretched for miles in either direction, far beyond what they could see. The sides were steep, making climbing hard.

They stared out at the edge of the chasm before Sunstreaker took a seat next to the tiny human. The relief of getting off his leg was the only good thing he could find in this situation. “Primus dammit all.”

“You can say that again.” Junkyard agreed as she sat down too. Having gone over twenty four hours without water in the heat was wearing down on her. She had been suffering from fatigue, hunger, and dehydration for hours now making her weak and dizzy. “What do we do?”

“We can’t go around it. Neither of use would survive the detour.” He told her with a sigh. 

The lack of energon and coolant was affecting him as well. His fans had been working overtime to keep his internal systems cool. He was overheating in the sun making some of his systems shut down. Such as coordination, balance, and his ability to think clearly. He was only in the beginning stages of overheating, but it was already affecting him negatively.

“So we have to climb all the way down.” She sat back, masked flashing a yellow persevering face. 

“And back up.”

“Shit.”

“Language young lady.” He reprimanded as a thought came to him. “How old are you?”

“Fourteen.” She responded.

“Can you even climb that?” He asked skeptically.

“I don’t have much of a choice. You can’t carry me, not with how hot you are, and that thing that’s been trying to eat me has been stalking us for the last two hours.” She said pointing her thumb behind them. Sunstreaker followed to where she was pointing and saw the grey black head of the creacher poking through the yellow sand. “So it’s not like you could even leave me here.” Her mask flashed a yellow unamused face.

“It’s only five storied with half a mile walk in between. Help is right on the other side. We can do this.” He said determined as he stood up. “Are you ready?”


	6. A Dangerous Climb

Junkyard peered down the edge of the chasm, trying to figure out a path for her descent. Next to her Sunstreaker was doing the same thing. They both had particular challenges they had to face with their climb. Sunstreaker was longer, so he had less over all climbing to do, but on the flip side he had far less potential hand holds to use than her. Likewise, the opposite was true for Junkyard. Due to her smaller size she had more potential hand and foot holds, however she has more climbing to do to cover the same amount of ground.

No matter which way they choose, going down is far more dangerous than going up. Especially when they hadn’t gone up that path to begin with. Every step they’ll take will be a guess. With every move they make they will have to hope their holds are as stable as they feel. With the walls being made of sandstone each hold will be a gamble. They will have to plot their course before they descend, then relay on memory to follow it all the way down. Over all, the whole thing was massive mess of risks each had to take if they wanted to get home.

One wrong move and they will pay the heavy price.

“Okay, it seems I can make my way down here.” Junkyard said from a little the right of the path. Her mask flashed a blue thinking face. “It’s got a lot of crevasse and divets I can use. Plus there’s a ledge a little more halfway down I can use to rest on for a little bit. Build up some strength before finishing the climb, you know.”

“What about the steep bit just under it?” Sunstreaker as he pointed to said spot. It was smoother than the rest of the wall, almost too smooth. From his angle he could spot only a few holds for her to grab a hold of.

“That’s the part I’m worried about.” She admitted, her mask flashing a yellow worried face. “I’m just going to have to be careful. Wish me luck.” She turned to her path and started moving forward.

“Hey.” He said putting his servo in front of her. She turned back around to face him. He got down as low as he could so he could better look her in the eye. Even if she did have a mask on. “I know we’re in a hurry, but don’t rush this. I’d much rather wait a couple extra hours than have you slipping and breaking your neck. Okay?” 

“I’ll be fine, Sunshine.” She said trying to brush him off, but he wasn’t having it.

“I’m being serious, Junkyard.” He said, his voice going stern. “I don’t want you taking any risks, ya hear me? We made it this far together, the cockpit is just on the other side, we’re going the rest of the way together. We’re both going home, alive, you got it?”

“Okay, I understand. I’ll be careful, Sunstreaker.” She said nodding her head understanding just how serious he was being. She walked over to the edge and gave him a wave.

He watched her climb over the side of the with worry clenching at his spark. He didn’t know why he cared so much about this one human. It didn’t make any sense to him, but he did. So he was going to do everything he could to make sure they both made it out the other side. To make sure they both got home.

He checked his hud first and saw he only had 17% energon in his tanks. With a heavy sigh he began his descent just a little ways down from where Junkyard went over. His spot had more ledges and larger crevasse he could use as holds for his much larger servos and peds. In between each of the ledges and crevasses were large gaps of smooth, flat rock. Distances far too large for Junkyard to use to get down. The gaps were almost too large for him to use. 

His injured leg sent shock waves of pain through his frame with each step down. He could feel it reopen again as he made his way down. It took every ounce of his will power to ignore it and keep going. From the corner of his optics he watched Junkyard as she climbed down and for the second time since they crashed he knew if she slipped there would be nothing he could do.

From the other end Junkyard was struggling with her climb. She was suffering the effects of dehydration, starvation, and fatigue. The sun baked rock burned even through her thick leather gloves. A bad mix when doing any sort of strenuous activity. Especially one so dangerous, so deadly. Multiple times she nearly slipped and fell. A few times she missed judges how stable a hold was due to her clouded head. The sandstone crumbled under her hold in some places, nearly making her slip and fall.

She knew trying to make this climb would be suicidal, but she had no choice. So she slowly made her way down, hesitating with each step. It took her nearly two hours to get down to the narrow ledge. Once there she knelt down and panted, her head spinning from the strain of such an intense work out. She looked over at Sunstreaker who was a about a story lower than her. She knew he’d probably be getting down before her.

She felt an urge to speed up her descent so they could get moving faster. Somewhere in the back of her foggy mind a red flag was being raised, but she was far too delirious to pay it much attention. So she ignored the feeling of danger and warning like it was some bothersome fly buzzing near her head. Instead she set about getting down again, way too soon from her break. She swung her legs down over the edge of the ledge.

She was too far gone to realise it was a bad spot. The hold she picked was no good. That the sandstone rock was crumbling right out from beneath her. Before she knew it her feet had slipped out from under her. Her hands lost their grip on the ledge from the sudden shift in weight. Her last thought before she went tumbling was ‘were did the floor go?’.

Sunstreaker watched in horror as Junkyard's body alternated between sliding and tumbling down the side of the chasm. At about ten feet off the ground she fell straight to the ground. She bounced and rolled once, landing on her back with her arms splayed out. When she landed she didn’t move. Fear for the small human made him scrambled down quickly. When he was about six feet off the ground he jumped down.

A bad move if the pain shooting through his leg had anything to say. It collapsed out from under him and he roared out in pain. His roar, a sound that has driven fear into the sparks of countless bot. The sound echoed around the chasm, reverberating off the walls far beyond audio range. His digets dug into the sandy soil while his optics flashed white. The pain raced over his frame in intense waves that nearly had him screaming out in pain again.

After a few moments the pain subsided and he dared look down at his leg. Once again it was leaking energon and sparking. Some of the metal was crushed or twisted, but it would hold. Not daring to test his weight out on it yet he crawled over to the body of his tiny companion. He slowly reached out and gently poked her small, fragile body. Once, twice, then a third time in a weak attempt to wake her.

“Junkyard.” He called out, hoping to rouse her. “Junkyard, you got to wake up, Sweetspark. We got to go. Junkyard! Wake up! Come on, wake up!” He started shouting as he shook her. He could feel his spark sink in dread, sorrow wrapping around it the longer she went without responding.

After a terrifying long ten minutes she made a noise not unlike that of a small pup. Sunstreaker stared down in hope as her fractured mask lit up with a red persevering face. A fraction on the bottom didn’t light up, obscuring part of the emoji. She slowly moved her head so she could look up at the relieved face of the yellow Autobot.

“Oh, Primus, Junkyard! I thought you were dead.” He said with a slight sob in his voice. “You wouldn’t move. You fell so far and you wouldn’t move.”

“W-what happened?” She asked as she slowly sat up. 

She hissed in pain and clutched her aching ribs. Four of her ribs had cracked and broken on the way down. Luckily that was the only part of her that was terribly injured from the fall. The rest of her injuries were bruises and bumps that would heal with time. She realized that the only reason she survived the fall was because of the lesser gravity on the alien planet.

“You slipped and fell.” He told her. Slowly his fear changed to anger. “Dammit! I told you to be careful! You should have rested longer on that ledge! What in the pit were you thinking climbing again so soon?!”

“Well excuse me for suffering from dehydration! It’s not like I had the choice to not climb down! We both knew the risks, and they were ones we had to take!” She snarled back, her mask flashing a red evil looking face. She clutched her ribs in pain again, but stayed level with the golden warrior. “I know you’re scared, but that is no excuse to take it out on me!”

Her yelling back and seeing her in pain sapped the anger out of him quickly. He looked down at the human beneath him, hidden in his shadow. Her body was broken and bruised, running on next to nothing in a hellish environment. The last thing she needed to deal with was his temper.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it.” He apologized to her. She was the only few beings he said sorry to and actually fully ment it.

“I know. You were scared.” She responded as she forgave him. They sat for a few minutes in silence before she stood back up, head still foggy, but clearer now. “We have to keep moving. We’re so close now.”

“Can you do it?” He asked her, worried for her new injuries.

“I’ll be fine. I’ll tell you a little secret about us humans. Despite how easy we are to break, we are very hard to kill. You see, the reason why we rose to the top of the food chain in spite of all of the predators that can kill us, is our sheer will to live. The human will to live is so strong we have cut off parts of our body to survive.” Her mask flashed a yellow smiley face. “I may be bruised, broken, bloody, infected, and suffering from hunger and dehydration, but I can still keep going. I may have taken a tumble, but I am not out for the count yet.”

He looked at her, this tiny, fragile human that had survived so much these past three days, and grinned. “Good. Let's get moving, Squishy.”

“After you, Sunshine.” Her mask flashed a pink winky face.

With great caution Sunstreaker rose to his peds. His leg leaked steadily, but on slow trickles. It supported his weight, so they moved on. Sunstreaker limped heavier than before and Junkyard walked in a line that was far from straight. Still, they moved forward.

The half mile took them nearly an hour to get across. The sun was still high in the sky on the alien planet. This wall was full of holds for them to grip on the ascend. A small blessing for the exhausted duo. Junkyard went first, just ahead of Sunstreaker so he could catch her if he fell. They expected this climb to be much like the first, if not easier since they were going up instead of down.

They were wrong.

With both suffering from starvation, exhaustion, and overheating in the blazing sun the climb was hell. This time Sunstreaker was suffering the worst. With his reopened and worsen injury the climb was near impossible. Every step felt like his leg was being crushed. Many times it tried to collapse out from beneath him. The leaked energon made the rocks slick and nearly impossible for him to find a grip.

Many times he slipped and nearly fell all the way back down chasm. Each time it happened new scratches and gouges opened in his plating. Each one leaked just the tiniest bit of precious energon. Energon that he couldn’t afford to lose.

Junkyard reached the top first and sat down, waiting for her friend to get up. Using whatever remaining strength he had left Sunstreaker pulled himself over the edge of the cliff. He crawled forward a bit, just enough to get away from the edge, before collapsing on his front. Energon leaked out of his leg into a small, shallow puddle, but he didn’t move.

“Alright, Sunshine. The cockpit is right over there, barely half a mile. We can make it.” She said pointing a little into the distance, her mask flashing a yellow smiling face. When she didn’t hear him say anything back she turned to look at him, mask flashing a green question mark. “Sunstreaker?”


	7. The Last Half Mile

“Sunstreaker!” She shouted as she rushed to her fallen companion. She stood by his face, not sure what to do or if there’s anything she could do. She laid one hand on his face plate and shook. “Sunstreaker, are you okay?”

“I’m not, Sweetspark. That climb took everything I had in me. I only have 6% energon left. I’m nearly out of coolant and oil. I don’t think I’m going to make it.” He rasped. He opened his optics to look sadly at his tiny companion.

“Come on, we can do this! The cockpit is so close now. We can go home.” She said pleading, mask flashing a purple worried face. “We can do this.”

“I can’t, Squishy. I can’t make it.” He panted out, helm bowed in both exhaustion and shame. “I can’t even stand anymore.”

“You don’t have to stand if that’s too hard for you. I’m going to tell you something a wise and somewhat creepy old man once told me. If you can’t run, then walk. If you can’t walk, then crawl. But no matter what you have to keep moving forward.” She said, looking him right in the optic, hands on his face plate. “The cockpit is right there, but I won’t make it without you. And even if I did I can’t use the radio or beacon. I don’t even know what they look like.

“I need you, Sunstreaker. I need you.” She said with all the seriousness her delirious brain could muster. “We can take this one step, or crawl at a time, but you need to keep moving forward. Just think of them. Sides, Blue, hell, even Prowl if that’ll get you moving. You still need to introduce me to them, you know. You promised.”

“Hehehe. I did, didn’t I? Well, how can I say no after such a compelling argument?” He chuckled. Slowly he raised himself to stand on his servos and knees. Once stable he took a cautious step forward.

“There ya go. You can do this.” She encouraged him. She grabbed his color now that it was in reach and began to lead him forward. “You want to know what my favorite song is?” She asked him in an attempt to distract him from everything and keep him moving.

“What is it?”

“Piano Man, by Billy Joel.” She told him, mask flashing a yellow smile briefly.

“Do you know the lyrics?”

“By heart.”

“Sing it for me, will you? Keep me in cadence.”

“Sure thing, Sunshine.” She chuckled.

“Duuu, de duu duuu, de duu duuu. Duuuu, di du daaa, hmmmm hmm hummm, laaaa li luuu laaaa.

It’s nine o'clock on a saturday,  
The regular crowd shuffles in.  
There’s an old man sitting next to me  
Making love to his tonic and gin.” She started singing as she led him to the front end of the ship.

“He say’s ‘Son can you play me a memory?  
I’m not really sure how it goes,  
But it’s sad and it’s sweet,  
And I knew it complete   
When I wore a younger man's clothes.

Laaa, laaa, ladiadaaa  
Laa, ladiadaaaa, ladum”

With every step she stumbled over her feet, held up right only by her hand holding his color. Sunstreaker let her guid him to the end of their journey, too exhausted to keep his optics powered.

“Sing us a song, you’re the piano man.  
Sing us a song tonight.  
Well, we’re all in the mood for a mellody,  
And you got us feeling alright.

Now John at the bar is a friend of mine,  
He gets me my drinks for free.  
And he’s quick with a joke or to light up your smoke,  
But there’s someplace he’d rather be.”

His leg had gone numb, he could no longer feel his ped. Two of his cooling fans shut down from the heat of the unforgiving alien sun. Junkyard felt the burn of his overheated metal through her glove, but she dared not let go.

“He say’s ‘Bill, I believe this is killing me’  
As a smile ran away from his face.  
‘Well I’m sure that I could be a movie star,  
If I could just get out of this place.’

Oh, laaa, laaa, ladiadaaa  
Laa, ladiadaaaa, ladaaaoooo

Now Paul is a real estate novelist,  
Who never had time for a wife.  
And he’s talking with Davey,   
Who’s still in the navy,  
And probably will be for life.”

She swayed as she walked. He stumbled even while crawling along. Neither noticed.

“Hhhmmmm, hm hm, hmmmm hummm  
Hmmm, hmmm humm, hmmmm

And the waitress is practicing politics,  
As the businessmen slowly get stoned.  
Yes, they’re sharing a drink they call loneliness,  
But it’s better than drinking alone.

Da da da, dum dummm  
Dada da dat daaaa

Sing us a song, you’re the piano man.  
Sing us a song tonight.  
Well, we’re all in the mood for a mellody,  
And you got us feeling alright.”

She stopped for a second to see how much further they had to go. Only a quarter of a mile left.”

“It’s a pretty good crowd for a Saturday  
And the manager gives me a smile.  
‘Cause he knows that it’s me  
They’ve been coming to see  
To forget about life for a while.

And the piano sounds like a carnival  
And the microphone smells like a beer  
And they sit at the bar,  
And put bread in my jar,  
And say ‘Man what are you doing here?’

Oh, laaa, laaa, ladiadaaa  
Laa, ladiadaaaa, ladaaaoooo

Sing us a song, you’re the piano man.  
Sing us a song tonight.  
Well, we’re all in the mood for a mellody,  
And you got us feeling alright.”

She finished the song, out of breath, but a proud smile on her face. She had spent weeks learning that song. Snatching the lyrics off the radio whenever the song was on.

“That’s quite a long song.” Sunstreaker commented, voice hushed. Only by being right next to his helm did she hear him.

“You should hear it when there are instruments.” 

“I can see why you like it. It’s so sad, but sung in such an unapologetic way. Like he knows there's no changing his life.” 

“It’s a tune and a song everyone can relate to. We’ve all been at the bar to forget why we’re here.” She commented absentmindedly. “Metaphorically for some of us though.”

She looked up again, only an eight of a mile left. All around them was more debris from the escape pod. Some in large chunks, most in small pieces scattered about. They had to climb or walk around some of them. It added some time to their walk, time they didn’t have.

At long last they made it to the cockpit. It was torn up, dented, and most of the internal pieces were missing. To say it was destroyed would be an understatement. There was some good news, however. The edges were sparking, indicating some sort of power source.

Using the last of his energy, Sunstreaker stood up and stumbled to the console. He opened a sliding door under it and pulled out a mall white box with multiple switches and buttons on it. He started flipping the switches but quickly noticed nothing was happening.

“No, no, no.” He muttered while shaking his head. He grabbed the cord it was attached to and pulled. It came out from under the console, end cut off. “Slag! Primus damnit!”

“Well, shit. What’s that cord for?” Junkyard asked for where she sat nearby.

“That was its power source. Without that it won’t turn on.” He said, helm falling back.

“Well that’s a stupid desing! Why isn’t it battery powered, or uses solar panels, or something?!?” She asked flabbergasted.

“Wheeljack. This whole pod. I think it was the one he was working on. A prototype of some sort. Explains why it fell apart, we’re lucky it didn’t explode.” He snorted.

“What now?” She asked him.

“Die, I guess. Their's nothing else we can do” He shrugged. “All this way, for nothing.”

“What about the radio?” She asked, perking up slightly, mask flashing a yellow exclamation mark.

“Busted.” He pointed to a small, sparking box. It was completely destroyed.

Junkyard sat back, disheartened, ready to give. Until she realized something. The ship was sparking, same as with the radio! There is still power, she just needed to get it to the beacon somehow. Willing to give it one final shot for a rescue, she gathered up her remaining strength and ducked under the console.

“What are you doing, Squishy?” He called after her, voice tired.

“Getting us some electricity, Sunshine.”

Day in the sun had baked the inside turning it into an oven. The metal was hot to the touch. Everywhere live wires dangled down, ends cut open. Just what she needed. She took off her jacket and used it to grab one of the wires. Very faintly she could feel the electricity run through the clothing.

“Sunshine! Throw the cable back in here!” She shouted out to him, mask flashing an orange exclamation mark. He threw it in as far as he could. She pulled the wire closer before letting go to grab the cable. She peeled back some of the hard plastic to expose more wire. She picked it up and placed it on the other wire, stepping on it to keep them connected. “Try it now!”

It was quiet for a moment before Sunstreaker spoke. “It’s not enough! We need more power.”

“Great.” She muttered and picked up her jacket. 

She grabbed three more cables and brought them back, but was having a hard time keeping them connected. She tried bedding the wire as best she could, but it wouldn’t stay attached. She had to try something other than dropping them on each other.

So as carefully as she could she used the jacket to tie the four wires together. She could feel the energy coursing through, giving her minor shocks at times. A part of her jacket started smoking indicating fire. Her body ached as she worked, not having the energy or water for such a strenuous activity. Slowly she managed to twist the beacon wire around the four other wires. She got them together just in time for the jacket to catch flames.

“It’s working! I’m calling for help!” He shouted, relief and hope clear in his voice.

“Great! Fantastic!” She called back as she threw her flaming jacket out of the console.

She excited the console with it’s burning heat and into the cooler air of the planet. Being as careful as she could, she crept along the right sides of the torn cockpit to a spot with enough shade to cover her for a little while. Through with the sun creeping along the sky she was right in the spot it was going to be soon.

“Junkyard, are you okay?” Sunstreaker asked worried as he got the beacon working. He set it down and collapsed on his side, energy spent.

“My jacket, *huff huff huff* is destroyed, so I have no protection from the sun when it’s, it’s light hits here in a few minutes.” She panted out, her mask flashing an orange preserving face before switching to a blue smirking face. “Luckily I have one more trick up my sleeve.” With that she started digging weakly at the ground.

“What are you doing?” He asked her quietly.

“Digging a hole. *Huff, huff, huff* I’m going to bury myself. The soil will protect me from the sun. It might even help keep me cool.” She told him as she dug away weekly at the sandy soil. 

It was very loose and easy to move, but in her state she wouldn’t make the hole deep enough in time. Even now the adrenaline from getting the beacon working was wearing off and her movement slowed. Every ounce of energy she had, she spent on getting the beacon to work. Before long she, too, collapsed on her side completely exhausted. Her mask went completely dark.

Using the very last of his energy, Sunstreaker reached his servo out to her hole and dug in. With his massive size it only took a minute for him to dig a hole big enough for her. He then picked her limp body up, knowing his metal servos were burning her body, and carefully put her in the hole. He nudged her gently into a more comfortable position that put all of her in the hole. Being as gentle as he could he covered her body with the sandy dirt. He covered every inch of her body, except for her mask, so she could breath.

In a last attempt to keep the sun off her he dragged his body forward so his helm’s shadow will block as much of the sun as possible. He lied on his front, helm facing her shallow hole. He gently placed his on servo over her hole, spark in two breaking in his chest. He knew in the back of his processor he more than likely just dug her grave. He knew he did everything that he could for the tiny human child, but felt like it wasn't enough.

With his hud flashing a warning that he only had 2% energon left, he closed his optics and let the darkness sweep over him.

“We found him!” A voice called out.

“Quick, we need to get him on board!” Another responded.

The sudden commotion brought Sunstreaker back online momentarily. All round him there was a panic as he felt servos grab a hold of him, picking him up. Panic flashed through him for a second as he reached his servo out to grasp at the sandy soil in a particular spot.

“What’s he doing?”

“He’s delirious, he doesn’t know what he’s doing.”

The others chatted, but little did they know that in this one second he knew exactly what was going on. And he couldn’t leave her behind. So he grabbed for her in the sandy soil and pulled her body close to his chest, right over his spark. Feeling her weight in his servo calmed him enough to stop fighting. He let them push him on his back, but didn't let them move his arm.

“He stopped panicking. Get him on the gurney.”

"Have a drip ready in the ship! He won't last much longer without energon."

“Come on, Sunny. Don’t give up yet.”

He couldn’t tell who any of the voices belonged to, only that they were familiar. He knew he was safe among them, so he relaxed and slipped in and out of consciousness. A small part of him was put at ease with the weight in his servo as he started to go back under.

“What’s that in his servo?

“Primus, is that a human?”


	8. The End Of A Begining

Sunstreaker woke up with a start, panic flowing through his frame. Though he wasn’t why until he realized his servos were empty again. He tried to get up, but he was still disoriented and unstable from days without nourishment. He ended up falling off the berth he was on, landing hard on his side. A small part of him realized he was in the med bay due to the white walls and bright lights.

“Whoa! Sunny, what are you doing?” Call out a voice as familiar as his own. It sent a warm pulse through their bond.

“Sides!” He shouted, standing up with the help of his twin. He had to put most of his weight on his right leg since his left still couldn’t support his weight. He wrapped his arms around the red mech and pulled him close. “Sides!” He nearly choked on his words as he buried his face in his neck.

“Hey, it’s okay. We got you now.” He shushed his brother, sending love and warmth through the bond. Sunstreaker returned the feeling with his own mixed with relief as well.

“We found you just in time.” Another familiar voice piped up from right next to him.

Sunstreaker picked up his helm to look at the smaller grey dustan. “Blue.” He reached out with one arm to pull the other mech into the hug. Joy and relief washed over his frame now that he had the two loves of hif life back in his arms. Something he feared he never would have again.

“Everything’s okay now, Sunny.” Bluestreak said in an attempt to sooth the warrior. “You need to rest though. Let’s get you back to berth.”

“No!” He shouted in a panic that was sent across the bond to his twin. He started to look around fast in an attempt to find her. The sudden movements caused him to go unstable. He had to grab Sideswipe harder to keep up right. “I need. Where is? Her, she, I. Junkyard! Where’s Junkyard?!?”

“Who’s Junkyard? Is that the human we found with you?” Blue asked him, concern clear on his face plate. He gently placed a hand on his shoulder to both stable the swaying mech and calm him.

“Yes! Where, where is she?” He asked. His energy was draining fast, but determination to see his human kept him up.

“She’s fine. Well, she’s alive. They have her hooked up to a bunch of machines right now.” Sideswipe told him as he took on more of his twin's weight.

“I have to see her!”

“Sunny, you need to rest.” Sides tried to reason with him but stopped when he felt a wave of desperation go through their bond. It wasn’t a feeling he felt often from his brother. Usually only when Bluestreak had gotten injured on the battlefield. To feel such a feeling from his twin for a human was enough to stun him.

“Sideswipe, please. I have to see her. I need to know she’s okay.” Sunstreaker pleaded, shocking all the bots in the room. He didn’t realise it, but both Prowl and Ratchet were also in the room watching the scene unfold. Both watched in astonishment for the yellow warriors unusual behavior.

Sideswipe stood dumbfounded as Sunstreaker sent memory after memory of his ordeal to him. Memories of how she got the hull chunk off his leg, how he protected her from the snake creature, how she was the one to get the beacon working, and much more. Tied in with all these memories were feelings of admiration, respect, fondness, attachment, and love. Feelings he’s only ever had for Sideswipe and Bluestreak, and now for a human child, but in a slightly different way.

“Okay. Okay. She’s right over here” He gave in and led him to the human with Bluestreak’s help.

She was placed on a much lower counter in the medbay in what is a makeshift human medbay. She laid still on the cot, not moving aside from the consistent rise and fall of her chest with each breath. The monitor she was hooked up showed her steady heartbeat while the drip she was hooked up to filled her body with fluids. She looked even paler in the white medbay. Like she could blend in with the walls and never be seen again.

Upon seeing the tiny human all panic in Sunstreaker left, replaced with relief and weariness. Slowly he sank to his knees, head still above the counter, and used one servo to gently rub her head. Satisfied that she was alive, he let his tiredness start to take over him as he looked at the tiny human. 

As he watched her he could feel a programming waking up. One that screamed at him to care for and protect her. It was the sire programming in him. He tried to send love and warmth through the Creation Creator bond, but it didn’t exist. Instead Sideswipe felt everything.

As his twin fell back into recharge, Sideswipe studied the human child, wondering how she had managed to get through all the walls his brother had so carefully surrounded himself with over the years. With a chuckle he helped Ratchet pick up his brother and put him back on the berth. He reached out to the medic just as he was about to leave and pulled him close to whisper something in his audio receptor while pointing to the human child. Ratchet smiled and nodded his helm.

Sideswipe patted his shoulder and took a seat next to Bluestreak who gave him a curious look. “I think we just adopted a human named Junkyard.”

It was dark when he tried to come through again. His processor was foggy, but something in him urged him to get up. When he opened his optics he noticed that most of the lights were off again. He sat up a bit and looked around. Next to him on his left side on their own berth were both Blue and Sides. He had a feeling that neither of them had left his side much.

He then looked to his left and smiled. On a portable table, right next to his berth, was Junkyard. She was now curled up on her side, I.V. dripped pulled out, facing him. Her heart monitor still showed a slow, steady beeping. She looked slightly less pale now, though she still was very much so. Overall she looked much better, much healthier.

Content that she was still fine he laid back again and fell back into recharge.

The next time that he woke up it was only for a moment. He felt something climbing across his neck cables and landed on the other side. He heard a quiet yawn and felt them curling up next to him. It took him only a moment to realize it was Junkyard.

She had woken up and climbed over him to get to her favorite sleeping spot. The junction between his neck and shoulder. To her it was warm and safe, a perfect sleeping spot to her somewhat fuzzy brain. Once there she let out a yawn and curled up, head resting on his shoulder.

Before long she was asleep. Just as Sunstreaker was dozing back off he heard a chuckle from nearby.

The next time he woke up he was being shaken awake. When he opened his optics he could see the smiling face of Sideswipe grinning down at him. Tired he smiled back and slowly sat up. He took a minute to wake up before regarding his twin questioningly.

“Sorry to wake you up, Sunny, but we kind of have a problem we need your help with.” Sides told him.

“What’s that and why couldn’t you have gotten literally anyone else to do it?” He grumbled as he stretched.

“It’s your human.” He told him. When he said that Sunstreaker wiped his helm around to look at the empty bed where Junkyard had laid. It was empty, sending a wave a panic through him. “Whoa, easy bro. She’s fine, okay?”

“Where is she?” He asked as he stood up. He wobbled for a moment before quickly regaining his balance.

“In a vent.”

“WHAT?!”

“Prowl wanted to talk to her, so he had Huffer bring her to his office. She started freaking out, got out of his hand. Then climbed up Prime and into a vent. She’s been in there for nearly three joors and refuses to come out.” He explained to him as they made their way to said vent. Sunstreaker had to lean somewhat on his twin due to his still damaged leg. Fresh welds crisscrossed across it showing Ratchet had taken care of what he could.

“Why didn’t you send one of the mini bots up?” He asked him. The halls were getting more crowded the closer they got. Everyone wanted to see what all the commotion was about.

“We did. Well first we sent up the buggy, but she threw that out right away. Then Prime sent Bumblebee up. She kicked him in the face, it was hilarious.” He said with a laugh just as they arrived at the scene. True enough Bumblebee had a scuff mark on his face plate from where she had kicked. He stood next to Prime, sulking.

“Hahaha! That’s my girl.” He laughed as he turned up to the vent where his human had disappeared into. A fond smile was on his faceplate, something not seen by most mechs. “How are you doing Junkyard?”

“Better now that you’re here. Tell these assholes to leave me alone!” She shouted out, voice full of venom. “First they wake me up! Then that blue and yellow jackass grabs me, hurting my already BROKEN RIBS! That big red and blue bot scared the shit out of me, so I climbed up to the vent, and now they keep sending things in after me!”

“Well you’ve been a wonderful influence.” Prowl commented dryly.

“Don’t look at me, she came like that.” He shot back. “Sweetspark, you need to get down from there. It’s not safe.”

“Did Sunstreaker just call a human ‘Sweetspark’?” Some asked shocked.

“I do not consent to be questioned!”

“I need to fill out the report. In order to do that I have to question you.” Prowl growled.

“Is that really the most important thing right now?” Sunstreaker asked as he turned to the black and white Praxian. “We just almost died on the hottest planet in the galaxy. Give us some time to relax before you start hounding us for information. Do you want the short version? She’s a stowaway. We crashed, had to walk for almost fifty miles in the boiling heat, climb up and down chasm.”

“I almost got eaten!”

“Right, so we were stalked by some snake looking thing. Then we almost died. Happy now?” He asked, servo on his hip.

“You left out the part where I saved your life. Twice!” She called out from the vent.

“Hey, I saved your life twice too. You ain't special.” He shot back, amusement clear in his voice.

“How is it twice? You only saved me from the snake.” She argued.

“I also found you water. That counts.” He countered.

“Oh, well if we’re adding finding supplies to that list, then I get bumped up to three, Sunshine.” She growled playfully as she finally poked her head out of the vent. 

Her hair was down from the bun it had been in for days. It was long with gentle waves, almost curly at the bottom. She had pulled out her bun minutes before Sunstreaker had shown up to coax her out of the vent. Sunstreaker found that he liked the way her snowy white hair looked.

“Did she just call him Sunshine and not get threatened?” Another bot asked, just as shocked.

“It was right behind the rock! I would have found it anyways.”

“Yea, but I saw it first, so you’re welcome!”

“Well now if we're nit picking, I get bumped up to three as well.” He said, giving her a glare. She had moved so her legs hung off the edge of the vent. “If I hadn’t grabbed you out of the dirt while they were rescuing me, then your squishy butt would still be on that hellish planet.”

“Yea, well it’s super easy for someone of your size to save some one of my size! And it’s super hard for someone of my size to save someone of your size. So mine should count for double!” She finished and crossed her arms.

“Just get down from there, Squishy.” He sighed, crossing his arms. “I got some bots I wanna introduce you too.”

“As soon as those stupid humans give me back my mask. The jackass stole it from me when they woke me up!” She growled as she pointed to said humans. 

A group of four of them were watching nearby. In one of their hands was Junkyard's mask, slightly more damaged. Sunstreaker took one look at them and growled in warning. The humans yelped and offered out the mask. Happy that she was getting it back, she jumped down from bot to bot until she reached the floor. She stalked over to the human that took it, grabbed it, and hit him upside the head with it. He fell back with a pained grunt as several others gasped.

“Thank you so very kindly for returning what didn’t belong to you!” She snapped and put it back on. She then turned to Sunstreaker and walked on the offered servo, her cracked mask booting up. “Somethin’ I forgot to mention to you, I’m mean as hell.”

“That’s fine. So am I.” He grinned at the tiny human in his servo and her mask gave a red smiling devil face. He put her on his shoulder where she slid down to the junction between his neck and shoulder. This earned them several more surprised gasps from everyone this time. “Junkyard, I’d like you to meet Sideswipe and Bluestreak.”

“Nice to meet you two, I’m Junkyard.” She waved, her mask switching to a yellow smiling face. “FYI, you’re stuck with me forever now.”

“Damn straight!” Sunstreaker said with a slight growl. “You think I’m letting you lose onto the world after we’ve been through all that? Pit no! You’re sticking with me.” He told her as he started to head towards their shared berthroom.

“I’m glad she’s staying. She seems like such a sweety. Well, other than the cursing and hitting that one guy upside the head with her mask. He did kind of deserve it for taking her mask, not that we should be teaching her that violence is the answer, well it is sometimes, but not-” Blustreak rambled before he was cut off.

“Well I see why they call you Bluestreak.” Junkyard said with a chuckle. “It’ll be good to have someone to chat with nonstop.”

“Yea, I know I talk a lot, I just have a lot to say.” He said with a cheerful smile.

“So what about you, Red?” She said turning to the other bot.

“I’m going to be the bad influence.”

“Sounds like fun!”

“Great. We just get her and you two are going to ruin her.” Sunstreaker shook his helm.

“Like you weren’t going to spoil her.” Sideswipe countered.

“Speaking of things being spoiled, we need to fix you up, Sunshine. You look like you lost a fight with a very angry lawn mower. Yikes!” She laughed, her mask showing a yellow laughing face.

“And who’s fault is that, Squishy?”

“You’re still the one that hit the button, Sunshine.”


End file.
